Utility meters are devices that, among other things, measure the consumption of a utility-generated commodity, such as electrical energy, gas, or water, by a facility, such as a residence, a factory, or a commercial establishment. Utility service providers employ utility meters to track customer usage of the utility-generated commodities for reasons including billing and demand forecasting of the commodity.
Electricity meters are a type of utility meter configured to measure quantities related to the consumption of electrical energy by a facility or other load. Typically, the electrical service provider provides the load with uninterrupted access to the source of electrical energy. However, in some situations, such as when the customer's invoices are in arrears, the electrical service provider may determine that it is necessary to prevent access to electrical energy at the customer's load. To this end, some electricity meters include a service switch that is configurable in a closed state to provide electrical energy to the load and in an open state to interrupt access to electrical energy through the utility meter. Depending on the model, the service switch may be remotely controllable so that a technician can provide or interrupt access to electrical energy through the electricity meter without having to configure the electricity meter on site.
After sending a remote signal to the service switch of an electricity meter, the utility service provider is typically unable to determine if the service switch has successfully entered the desired operating state. If the service switch fails to enter the desired operating state then the electricity meter may (i) prevent a paying customer from accessing the electrical energy, or (ii) enable a customer to access the electrical energy when it is not desirable to do so.
Thus, a continuing need exists to increase the performance of utility meters so that the utility service provider is able to accurately and reliably determine the operating state of a service switch of an electricity meter and other types of utility meters having service switches.